Music for the Silence

Kiss Up and Make Up

"Marina-san... Is it okay if I rent out some of the instruments for a bit?" Guren asked.

"Huh? Well, yes. You can, but..."

"Shizuka, help me set up a studio."

"Huh? Wait, Guren-chan. What's going on? What are you doing?" Marina questioned.

"Doing my job as a staff member of CiRCLE who wants the event to succeed."

******

Some time later, PoPiPa returned with the other four bands.

"We... We brought them here..." Kasumi panted, with Pastel*Palettes members behind her.

"Wait, Hanazono-san...! You can't just pull me here. Roselia has practice-" Yukina, who was being pulled by Tae, stopped speaking upon seeing the other bands in the lobby once more.

"I'm sorry, but I have another appointment after-" Chisato was stopped by Kasumi holding her leg.

"You cannot leave! I don't want to know what she'll do if she finds out we don't have all of you here!" she cried.

"You said that earlier but... who are you talking about?" Aya asked.

"Where's Shizuka and Hero-san?" Kokoro followed.

As though on cue, Marina entered the lobby and saw the bands there. "Oh! You really brought everyone here," she said.

"Did you ask for us, Marina-san?" Kanon asked.

"No. Guren-chan did. She and Shizuka-chan are in Studio C. I strongly recommend you hurry."

"Yes, ma'am!" Kasumi exclaimed, as she and Tae somehow managed to push everyone to their destination, ignoring whatever questions they had, while the rest of PoPiPa followed.

Once they arrived, they saw Guren and Shizuka standing in the room with a keyboard, drum set, bass, a pair of guitars, and a mic there.

"Good, you're all here. And just in time," the person who called for them spoke.

"Sakura-san? We were told you called for us, but what for? And why do you have instruments set up in here?" Maya asked.

"I'll cut to the chase. Quit this stupidity and get back to proper group session."

"That's why you called us here?" Lisa asked.

"If that's it, then I'm afraid you've only wasted more your time and ours," Yukina said. "We already practiced anyway, and agreed to end today's practice as it was."

"She's right. After what happened, I'm not feeling up to it," Ran agreed.

As they and a few others turned and made their way to the doors, Guren then said, "So you're just going to run? And here I am, thinking I asked for the band members to be here, not immature brats who think the world revolves around them."

That made them stop.

"What did you call us?" Sayo questioned.

"Did I stutter, or have you lost your hearing at some point? I wasn't asking you to stop this stupid problem you're all having, nor was I asking you to practice as a group. I am telling you to both."

"Hang on, you can't just tell us what to do," Chisato argued.

"With how immature you girls are, someone has to. Not only are some of you making big deals out of minor problems, others either don't seem to care about it or having problems trying to resolve this minority. You're supposed to be bands, and instead all I see are teenage girls who are goofing off on their own when they should be taking responsibility for their actions."